Do Muskegon police need Tasers and downtown video cameras to make the city's streets safer?

MUSKEGON, MI – Muskegon City Commissioner Byron Turnquist has raised two controversial law enforcement issues that to date have not been addressed publicly at Muskegon City Hall: Tasers and video surveillance.

The Muskegon City Commission had an initial discussion earlier this week of equipping Muskegon police officers with Tasers and wiring the downtown with video cameras for security and crime prevention.

Both issues were referred to staff for further review and a report back to the commission, which would then engage in expected lengthy deliberations before agreeing to either law enforcement tool.

Beyond the issue of cost, Tasers raise issues of safety and effectiveness and video surveillance cameras come with issues of privacy and day-to-day operations. But Turnquist said both issues are worth investigating and discussing.

City Manager Bryon Mazade said Tasers and video surveillance are law enforcement issues that are at the heart of the city commission’s 2013 top goal of public safety.

Byron Turnquist

“I am looking for a report on these,” Turnquist said at Monday May 13 city commission work session. “If we are against them, the case is closed.”

Surveillance cameras

On video cameras downtown, Turnquist said in discussions with Frontier Communications officials when Muskegon-area’s telephone company opened a retail store in its operation building downtown a surveillance video system was raised. Frontier has a downtown Wi-Fi Internet system in place using small antennas on many utility poles in the downtown area.

Turnquist said the company offered to allow the city to place video cameras at those utility pole locations and connect into its network. Questions of how much such a system would cost, how effective it would be and who would monitor and archive the video would all have to be answered, along with the philosophical question of potential invasion of privacy.

“I realize we have no money for this but there is a possibility of state and federal grants,” Turnquist said, pointing to funds with the federal Department of Homeland Security.

The use of video cameras – both public and private – were critical in the eventual arrests in the Boston Marathon bombing incident last month and the lack of cameras at a Norton Shores gasoline convenience store is one factor in the ongoing abduction of store employee Jessica Heeringa, Mazade said. Many large cities around the world are now using public video cameras for security as was seen last year in London for the Olympics.

Tasers

Tasers are a different issue.

Turnquist said he believes the city of Muskegon is the only police department in the area not to equip its officers with the electric stun-gun weapon that is shot at close range at a dangerous suspect, providing a debilitating but non-lethal jolt of electricity.

Mazade said Public Safety Director Jeff Lewis has worked in departments that used Taser technology but has not suggested it for law enforcement in Muskegon.

This is one of the Frontier Wi-Fi radio units in downtown Muskegon at Terrace Street and Morris Avenue in front of Hot Rod Harley-Davidson. Video cameras can be hooked up at each of the Wi-Fi locations, company officials have told the city of Muskegon.Dave Alexander | Muskegon Chronicle

“There are benefits to Tasers but also downsides with issues of Taser-related deaths,” Mazade said. “We have chosen up to this point not to go in that direction.”

He said other tools, such as pepper spray, does not have such lethal of consequences.

In speaking to other law enforcement agencies in the Muskegon area, Turnquist said the use of Tasers saves officers from physical confrontations with violent suspects. That saves the suspects and the officers from injury and saves the departments in lost time and workers compensation claims, he added.

Commissioner Eric Hood, a former Muskegon police officer, said he wants Lewis’ views on both Tasers and video surveillance cameras. Lewis was at the Monday work session but did not speak on either topic, leaving his views for a more formal report and presentation to the commission.

Along with Turnquist, Commissioner Lea Markowski is interested in exploring Taser technology for Muskegon police officers.

“I’d much prefer to have our officers Taser someone than have us shoot them,” Markowski said of suspects putting officers or citizens in danger.

Vice Mayor Larry Spataro used the initial Taser discussion to praise Muskegon police officers. Spataro is a client advocate for Community Mental Health of Muskegon County.

Spataro said Muskegon officers to a great job of calming down agitated or belligerent individuals, many of them who have mental illnesses. Muskegon officers offer such individuals the time and space to calm down and with Tasers the first instinct might be to deploy the stun weapon, he said.

“This is not a decision we should be taking lightly without a lot of research to make sure this is the way we want to go,” Spataro said. “With this, I want to go slow.”